We forsake everything else, spread the Lord’s gospel, and shepherd the church. This kind of labor is the way to implement the heavenly Father’s will. Is there anything wrong with our practice this way?

February 22, 2021

Answer: Spreading the Lord’s gospel and working for Him doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing the will of the heavenly Father. To truly do the heavenly Father’s will, man must follow the Lord’s way and keep His commandments. Man must perform his duty as the Lord demands. Just like what the Lord Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat 22:37–39). As far as doing the heavenly Father’s will is concerned, the most important requirement is obeying and practicing the Lord Jesus’ current words. This is the most basic principle. If man does not focus on following the Lord Jesus’ words and instead focuses on following man’s words in the Bible, they are not doing the heavenly Father’s will. To do the heavenly Father’s will is to follow God’s words. People always exalt the words of the apostles contained in the Bible instead of exalting and bearing witness to those of the Lord Jesus Himself. By doing so, they are not doing God’s will; Instead, they are resisting Him. Those who are doing God’s will can obey God, practice His words, accept His commission, and bear witness to God, regardless of what He says or does. And those people no longer rebel against God or resist Him. They are the ones that God praises. Take Abraham, for example, he was able to follow God’s words. He willingly gave his beloved only son back to God. God rewarded Abraham for his absolute obedience. He blessed Abraham’s descendants, allowing them to eventually become great nations. Another example is Job. He revered God and stayed away from evil. During his trials, when his wealth and children were taken away, he cursed himself instead of blaming God; he continued to bless the holy name of Jehovah God. Therefore, he was a perfect man in God’s eyes. Peter is yet another example. He followed the Lord Jesus all his life, longing for and pursuing the truth. After accepting the Lord’s commission, he shepherded the church, in strict accordance with the Lord’s requirements. Eventually he was able to obey God until death and love Him above everything else. All of them obeyed and revered God. People like this are the ones who truly do the heavenly Father’s will. If you say that laboring for the Lord means implementing the heavenly Father’s will, then why, after the Pharisees traveled over land and sea to spread the gospel and worked hard, were they eventually condemned and cursed by the Lord Jesus? That’s because they believed in God but did not follow His way. When the Lord Jesus came to do a new work, not only did the Pharisees not accept it, they led the entire Jewish people in fanatically condemning and resisting the Lord Jesus. They even bore false witness against Him. Everything they did was a betrayal of the Lord’s way; they took the Lord Jesus as their enemy. Although these people were enduring much suffering and laboring hard outwardly, how can we say they were doing the heavenly Father’s will?

—the movie script of Stinging Memories